Hope is here!

Listen here:  https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/22470f5d/hope-is-here-1...

A Blessed Advent season to you - a time of anticipation of Christ’s coming as we celebrate his birth as a baby born to save the world, and joyfully anticipate his second coming, when all things will be set right. This is a season of true hope for all the world.

I'm wondering--if you had an internal hope meter, where would yours register today? hmmm . . .

Yesterday I was trying to put up lights on my front porch, a constant untangling process, listening to Michael W. Smith Christmas tunes,1 when I noticed a lady walking down the sidewalk toward me, favoring one leg as she walked.

'Are you in pain?' I asked her.

She looked up and said, 'why yes, I had knee replacement, but why do you ask?'

A fair question as we had not seen each other before. 'I recognize pain as I have had several surgeries on my right foot, and well, I'm just sorry for your pain.'

In short order I walked up the gradual slope to the sidewalk and said, 'Hi, I'm Christine - what's your name?'

'Princess,' she replied and I learned her country of origin was Sierra Leone.

'Christine,' she said with emotion, 'my close friend Christine just died, and now I meet you. Huh--'

'I'm so sorry for your loss, Princess,' and by now I was close enough to her to see the tears streaming down her cheeks.

I touched her arm and asked, 'Do you think I could pray for you?'

'Oh yes, please,' she replied.

And so I did, concluding with these words of Paul:

May the God of hope

fill you with joy and peace as you trust in Christ,

so that you may overflow with hope

through the power of the Holy Spirit.2

Amen!

We hugged each other and promised to meet up again, and then I apologized for being such a mess, having come from the gym and jumping right into light hanging. She looked so lovely, while I had on a Brooklyn baseball cap and ... but never mind that, did you catch it?3

God is the source of our Hope!

We can know joy and peace through relationship with Jesus.

Because I did not grow up in a faith tradition that recognized Advent, I have eagerly grabbed ahold of the wonderful opportunity it is for our own journeys with God. Yes, Jesus came as a baby born to save us which is beyond wonderful, but I also appreciate being increasingly mindful of Christ's return ~ the Blessed Hope of all who trust in him. 

I am taken with this brilliant insight: “The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come."⁴  Well, I have certainly been troubled in soul and well, I am imperfect all the time, a sinner who needs to repent, be cleansed and made new. Furthermore, I want to daily look forward to something greater to come. So, yes - Mr. Bonhoeffer, sign me up for Advent!

But wait - your attention? This will require something. . . that we obey God who said:

Be still, and know that I am God.⁵

A Prayer: God of hope, help me be still ~ to quiet my mind, my phone and other devices, to look to you with an open heart and mind and a spirit that longs to know your presence. During this Advent season, I want to make room for you.  I will watch for you, open your Word, longing to hear from you. My hope is in you, Messiah, living Lord and coming King! Amen. 

God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits,

to the woman who diligently seeks.

It’s a good thing to quietly hope,

    quietly hope for help from God.6  

Since these are the first days of Advent ~ centered on hope, let us make room for the Lord and prepare our hearts for the perfect Christmas babe.  And the best Christmas celebrations always include music, so I bring you this song, Prepare Him Room. (also in the above podcast)

Be still and listen.  Link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO4a0ky0Kc8

Praying hope is welling up in you!

with love,

Christine

PastorWoman.net

1 - Michael W. Smith Christmas, 2023 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQwNUfeIVVA&list=PL-TAvZw87bQ0J4...

2 - Romans 15.13

3 - Why do I tell you stories like this--to make myself sound righteous? No, not at all, I actually hesitate to include them - but my point in recounting such meetings is to show you the power of the hope of God, extending it to others and praying it over them

4 - Dietrich Bonhoeffer a brilliant man of God who died a martyr's death at the hand of the Nazis, immortalized in the best biography I ever read by Eric Metaxas. 

5 - Psalm 46.10 

6 - Lamentations 3.25-26, The Message